Erie

Erie

Penn State Behrend students raised more than $46,000 for the 2015 IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, which ended Feb. 22. Two students -- Alexandra Laffey, a sophomore from Sewickley, and Mackenzie Yoho, a sophomore from Ellwood City -- danced at the two-day event, which raised more than $13 million for the Four Diamonds Fund at Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital.

Laura Kasischke will read excerpts from her poetry collections and fiction pieces when the Creative Writers Reading Series resumes at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, on March 26. Her 6 p.m. reading and the reception that will precede it are free and open to the public. Both events will be held in the Larry and Kathryn Smith Chapel.

The Penn State Behrend men's basketball team finished the season with a 12-game winning streak. The team, which also won 23 of its first 25 games, will have a first-round bye in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference tournament.

The excavation of an ancient desert garden and pool complex – an archeological project directed by Leigh-Ann Bedal, associate professor of anthropology at Penn State Behrend – is detailed in a documentary feature appearing this month on PBS, including WQLN-TV in Erie.

The Economic Research Institute of Erie, a research center of the Black School of Business at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, has partnered with the Erie Community Foundation to provide data and analysis for Erie Vital Signs, a benchmarking program that tracks the region’s performance in seven key areas.

Derreck Kayongo, the founder of the Global Soap Project and a humanitarian relief expert, will discuss creating a movement based on social change when the 2014-15 Speaker Series resumes at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, on Tuesday, March 3. His presentation, “Tapping Your Power to Create Social Change,” begins at 7:30 p.m. in McGarvey Commons and is free and open to the public.

For one night on Feb. 14, the Lake Erie Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association has partnered with McBriar Events for a special Penn State Pre-THON Party at Metzgar Center on the campus of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College. From 7 to 11 p.m., LEC members and nonmembers are invited to take part in an evening of dancing and fight song chanting.

The third annual Poverty Simulation, sponsored by the Human Relations Programming Council, was held at Penn State Behrend on Jan. 21. The simulation is designed to help participants understand what it’s like to live in a low-income family, surviving from month to month.